Unit of Neurology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy.
Unit of Neurology, San Giuseppe Hospital, 50053 Empoli, Italy.
Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Oct 18;22(20):11234. doi: 10.3390/ijms222011234.
A major goal of current clinical research in Parkinson's disease (PD) is the validation and standardization of biomarkers enabling early diagnosis, predicting outcomes, understanding PD pathophysiology, and demonstrating target engagement in clinical trials. Molecular imaging with specific dopamine-related tracers offers a practical indirect imaging biomarker of PD, serving as a powerful tool to assess the status of presynaptic nigrostriatal terminals. In this review we provide an update on the dopamine transporter (DAT) imaging in PD and translate recent findings to potentially valuable clinical practice applications. The role of DAT imaging as diagnostic, preclinical and predictive biomarker is discussed, especially in view of recent evidence questioning the incontrovertible correlation between striatal DAT binding and nigral cell or axon counts.
当前帕金森病（PD）临床研究的主要目标是验证和标准化生物标志物，以便能够进行早期诊断、预测结果、了解 PD 病理生理学，并在临床试验中证明目标药物的作用。使用特定的与多巴胺相关的示踪剂进行分子成像为 PD 提供了一种实用的间接成像生物标志物，是评估突触前黑质纹状体末端状态的有力工具。在这篇综述中，我们提供了 PD 中多巴胺转运体（DAT）成像的最新信息，并将最近的发现转化为潜在有价值的临床实践应用。讨论了 DAT 成像作为诊断、临床前和预测生物标志物的作用，特别是鉴于最近的证据对纹状体 DAT 结合与黑质细胞或轴突计数之间不可争议的相关性提出了质疑。
